


Already Gone

by mariuspunmercy



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types
Genre: 5+1 Things, Arguing, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, Hurt No Comfort, Hurt/Comfort, it makes sense I promise
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-18
Updated: 2020-08-18
Packaged: 2021-03-06 02:55:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,542
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25976305
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mariuspunmercy/pseuds/mariuspunmercy
Summary: 5 times Annabeth kicked Percy out of the Athena cabin.+ The one time she wished he’d stayed
Relationships: Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson
Comments: 3
Kudos: 88





	Already Gone

**Author's Note:**

> The best boy gets a happy birthday story

_ 1 _

As Percy walked Annabeth back to her cabin, he found himself smiling. 

His first Fourth of July fireworks at camp had been the coolest thing he’s seen all summer. And that’s saying something, considering he’s been in the presence of Zeus and seen Mount Olympus all within the same hour. 

Getting the master bolt back had been a highlight during his time in this world of monsters and gods, but the best part was definitely all of the camp activities. The canoe races, the climbing wall, sword fighting, pegasus riding; all of it was just the best. 

Grover hadn’t done a lot of the activities with him, but Annabeth tried helping when she suspected he needed it. He  _ did  _ need her more than he would like to admit, and he can’t deny she’s been awesome at everything she’s shown him. 

Even earlier that night, she claimed to know the best spot on the beach for fireworks. She had laid out a picnic blanket on one of the further corners. It’d been  _ incredible  _ to see so many lights flash in the air, so far away from other people.

“The Hephaestus cabin makes the fireworks look like animation,” she explained, pointing up to a scene with Hercules fighting a wolf. “They come out nice every year.” 

Percy didn’t doubt her, but he also didn’t think he ever could. 

Now, they walked side by side. She was carrying her folded blanket in her arms, a grey sweater that was too big for her covering her hands. Percy was cold too, but that was  _ his  _ grey sweater she was wearing, and he thought it would be mean to ask for it back. 

Just like his mom would say: always offer a girl your sweater; it’s good manners. 

He wanted to have a good friendship with her. Even if Annabeth said their parents didn’t get along, he wanted to end the rivalry. He thought it was stupid to be mad at someone for thousands of years just because some people liked their tree more or whatever, but he wasn’t one to judge. 

They seemed to be making good progress already, seeing as she asked him to watch the fireworks with her and let him give her his sweater without cutting off his arm. He didn’t think that would’ve been the case before their quest. 

“Have you gotten to the top of the climbing wall yet?” Annabeth asked as they continued to walk. 

Percy looked at her sideways, scoffing. “If getting to the top includes not scorching my hands, then no. But other than that, I’ve been doing pretty good.” 

She chuckled, and he was surprised to hear her genuine laugh. He was used to her punching him in the shoulder whenever he tried cracking jokes. He got a smirk out of her sometimes, but that was only when he laughed at something on Clarisse’s behalf. He thinks he likes how it sounds. 

“We’ve been talking strategy with Connor and Travis Stoll from the Hermes cabin about keeping the flag out of the Ares cabin’s hands for this upcoming game of capture the flag-” 

_ “Annabeth,”  _ he jokingly whined. “The next game of capture the flag isn’t until next Friday. Today is Saturday! Take the weekend off, relax.”

She considered his words. “I guess you’re right…” 

“Of course I’m right.” 

She deadpanned. “You know, you were doing so good up until that.” 

He rolled his eyes, but only because she started laughing again. “I’m still doing good, I see.” 

“No, you’re just annoying.” 

He wrinkled his nose at her insult. He wondered if his dad and Athena had ever gotten along, but he never wanted to ask. He knew it went deeper than olive trees and sneaky temple girlfriends.

“And you’re…” 

Annabeth raised an eyebrow, inviting the challenge. “I’m what? Got nothing to say, Seaweed Brain?” 

Percy threw his head back and groaned when he really had nothing else to say. Wise Girl and Owl Head aren’t exactly good insults, and even if they were using them in good fun, he still wanted to say something a little meaner than  _ wise girl.  _

When they’d finally gotten to the Athena cabin, Annabeth leaned against the door to look at him. “The fireworks were really nice this time around. The Hephaestus cabin probably made them extra special since we’re the first ones to come back alive from a quest since Luke.” 

Percy had never seen another firework display from camp, so he took her word for it. “Yeah, they were  _ awesome.”  _

She smiled a little shyly at him, and she opened her door to walk in. When he tried to follow behind her, she whipped around and pushed him back gently by the shoulders. “What are you doing?” 

He looked up at her confused. “What?” 

She pulled her folded blanket tighter to her. “There’s no one else here. You can’t come inside.” 

“Oh.” He rubbed his neck with his hand. He suddenly felt kind of awkward, which is weird because it’s  _ Annabeth  _ and he usually doesn’t get this way. “I guess I still have a lot to learn about camp.” 

She was about to say something when she stopped herself. She smiled again at him, and he couldn’t help returning it. “Goodnight, Percy.” 

Before he could bid her goodnight as well, she closed the door on him, and he was left standing on the porch. 

_ 2 _

“I’m still really uneasy about this,” Annabeth says as she pushed Percy into her cabin. 

He took a glance around the room. He had been prepared to shut the door, but he quickly realized none of her siblings were around. She huffed when he hesitated and closed the door, pulling him deeper into the cabin. 

Percy was fully aware that this was  _ definitely  _ breaking the rules. He was about to protest, but he picked up on her body language. The way she squared herself, her shoulders hunched. The fight was out of her, yet she was hyperaware. 

She wanted to be alone, and if she let him be there, then he would. After she was missing for what felt like eternity, he didn’t want to let her out of his sight. They couldn’t even try and forget, seeing as they now shared twin grey streaks in their hair. 

“What are you uneasy about?” He asked as she sat on her bed. 

She shrugged. “Nico’s disappearance, Pan speaking to Grover… There’s a lot.” She pulled her knees to her chest, compressing herself into a little box. “I leave tomorrow too. How am I going to survive in a monster infested city?” 

He didn’t want her to go. Again, after having only just got her back, despite what Athena said, he wanted to hang onto her. She’d held the weight of the sky; the weight of her problems alone.

“Do you not want to go?” 

Annabeth didn’t look at him. She stared out the window, resting her head on the cool glass. “I’m not sure. I want to mend things with my family, but I can’t imagine being able to live out there. Especially considering what just happened.” 

“And who might be after you,” he added. She flinched, and he realized that wasn’t the best thing to say. 

Quite honestly, he was embarrassed. He kept trying to convince her that Luke was dead, and then his dad told him otherwise. He was annoyed when she was interested in everything and anything about Luke. He knew it was for her own safety and to keep a lookout, but he still hated that everything always boiled down to Luke.

She nodded. “I know it’s going to be hard, but I have to try. I’ll keep an eye on Mount Tam, but I can’t guarantee I’ll find anything out.” 

Percy wanted to offer her a place to stay at his apartment. His mom would be more than happy to let her stay. If Annabeth really wanted to, she could just stay at camp. 

But that was the last thing she wanted, and he knew that. She couldn’t stay with him either. One son of Poseidon staying in the same place is bad enough. He couldn’t imagine what it’d be like if it was him  _ and  _ her. 

They both had an extra target on them. He hated the thought of her in San Francisco alone. If one of Luke’s men found her, it’d be bad. He knew it’d be bad. After just getting her back, he couldn’t lose her again. He didn’t think he could survive. 

He sat down next to her on the bed. “You’re going to Iris message me every day, right?” 

She wrly chuckled, resting her head on his shoulder. “Yeah. I think I’d like that.” 

He would too. He wanted nothing more than to be able to talk with her every day. She sighed loudly, bringing his attention back to the present. “Thalia said you guys went to the Hoover Dam without me. Care to explain?” 

Percy’s eyes widened. He had completely forgotten about visiting her favorite place in the world. How could he  _ not  _ tell her? “Thalia drove us all the way until we got on these canoes. I honestly didn’t even want to go, I-” 

She shook her head, snickering at his sudden panic. “No, I’m not mad. If I can’t go, I’m glad you guys could. Tell me about it. Was it the same as I’ve said?” 

Her random facts at random times of the day annoyed him then, but he thoroughly would’ve enjoyed them had she been there with him. She looked at him with such expectancy he couldn’t tell her he had, in fact, gotten attacked by skeleton warriors during his time there. “I think it was better.” 

She laughed, and he found comfort in that. He stared at her grey streak. He’d only lifted the sky for five, ten minutes at max. She found the strength for an entire day to save someone who didn’t even care about her. He tried to imagine what this quest would’ve been like had she not fallen off the cliff. He imagined them huddled together as they searched for Bessie, the wonder in her eyes as she looked at the Hoover Dam. 

He opened his mouth to say something when the sound of hooves clanking distracted him. He tried looking out the window, but Annabeth grabbed his shoulders and pinned him down. He was about to protest when she covered his mouth with her hand, peering carefully out the window. 

“It’s Chrion,” she informed. 

He wrestled her hand off of him, inhaling deeply. “Okay, just let me know next time instead of suffocating me.” 

“Percy!” She hissed. “You’re not supposed to be here!” 

He took a second to process that before a knock was heard on the cabin door. “Annabeth?” Chiron said from outside. “Are you in here?” 

She looked around wildly, moving past him to throw her pillows everywhere. “Yeah, just a second!” She shouted at the door. 

“What are you doing?” He whispered as she frantically looked for something. 

“You need to get out.” She held her Yankees cap to him, having hidden it underneath her pillows. “When I open the door, slip past him. I  _ swear,  _ Percy, if you get caught…” 

Letting the threat linger in the air, he put the cap on his head. His transparent form followed behind Annabeth as she opened the door for Chiron. He moved carefully past his teacher and into the night, moving slowly not to make any noise. 

When he looked back, he made eye contact with Chiron. He might’ve been invisible, but he had a feeling his mentor saw through them clearly. 

_ 3 _

“Hello?” Percy called inside. 

Nobody answered. He waited a moment before letting himself inside the Athena cabin, mindful of the various important looking papers strewn around the floor. He shut the door behind him, careful not to make any sudden noise.

The last time he’d been inside, it was much cleaner. It  _ had  _ been winter, so there were way less campers. Summertime meant everyone and their (non-godly) mothers were here now, and the cabin was a mess. With Annabeth as their cabin counselor, he didn’t think she’d ever let it get this messy. 

But he looked a little closer at the papers. They were all maps and diagrams of the labyrinth. Some were ripped pages torn from books about Daedalus, and even something about Helen and Troy. 

He put a face to the mess when he saw Annabeth sitting on her bunk, her back to him and rifling through some scrolls. He crouched down to skim another one of the papers: an outdated map of the camp’s forest. 

“Annabeth,” he called out to get her attention. 

She sat up straighter and turned around, one of the scrolls falling to the floor. She made no move to pick it up. Instead, she stood and stepped away from her bunk. “Hey, sorry. I didn’t hear you come in.” 

He noticed she was holding a scroll in her hand with a death grip. He understood, somehow, her stress. She’s wanted to lead a quest since she’s been at camp, and she’s finally got one. When he got his, he relied heavily on her and her knowledge. Now, almost everything she knows seemed useless when up against something like the labyrinth. 

“Are you okay?” Percy asked, stepping closer to her. 

Annabeth stared at the scroll in her hands. She was frowning at the image of Daedalus’s symbol etched in blue ink, hopelessly staring at him. “I… I don’t know. I’m trying to do research but it’s impossible. None of the stories agree about anything, all of the maps are different, and everything I thought I knew leads to nothing.”

Quintus had told him how the maze tries to confuse a person. It’ll mess with the mind and distract from the goal. He wondered if she knew. She must. She always knows. “We’ll figure it out.” 

She moved a strand of hair behind her ear. Despite being styled in a ponytail, her unruly blonde mess fell around her face. Her eyes were almost black as she sat back down on the bunk, leaning her head against the bedpost. “I don’t think we will.” 

He wanted to sit next to her, but the mess of maps and book pages made it impossible too. He stood in front of her, looking down at her as she avoided eye contact. “What do you mean?” 

“I’ve wanted this since I was seven..” she whispered. “When I finally get the chance, it’s for something I can’t figure out. I don’t know what to do, Percy.” 

He admired her admission. When she says something’s wrong, she means it. Her pride was a big part of her, and for her to swallow it and talk to him let him know everything he needed to know about her fears. 

“You’re going to do awesome,” he promised. “I know you will.” 

“I shouldn’t have asked you to do this,” she continued as she stood, gathering up her research from the bed. She walked to a workbench further back and set her scrolls down there, laying them all out neatly. “Or Grover, he doesn’t even want to come. Or Tyson.”

“Grover does want to come,” Percy reassured. “He’d do anything for you, same as me and Tyson. We wouldn’t miss your first quest for the world.” 

Annabeth looked at him with a grateful smile before returning her attention to her papers. “I don’t want anything to happen to you guys, but I know it’s unavoidable.” 

“Annabeth..” he started. He didn’t want to cause her any stress the night before they left, but he had to know. “What was the last line of the prophecy?” 

He could practically see her walls go up. Her eyes flashed dangerously at him before she avoided his gaze. “I already told you. I forgot.”

If this were anyone else, he might believe it. But Annabeth had the best memory of anyone he’s ever met. She didn’t want to tell him, but he couldn’t even guess what the final line was. 

“You didn’t forget,” he pressed on. “You don’t want to tell me.” 

“We need as much information out there as we can get,” she reminded. “Don’t you think the entire prophecy would be part of that?” 

“I would think.” He raked through his mind as she glared at him, completely turned away from her research to give him a death stare. “What were the lines…?” 

She shook her head as to tell him to stop, but he kept going.  _ “Destroy with a hero’s final breath.  _ It’s got to rhyme with breath. Does that jog your memory?” 

Annabeth wrapped her arms around herself, and he felt bad. He didn’t want to press her for the prophecy, but with going into an unknown situation, he needed to hear it. “There are a lot of words that rhyme with breath. There’s Seth, and Macbeth, and death-”

She slammed a hand against the workbench, and he fell silent. She looked at him with unshed tears, and he was about to step forward to hug her when she walked away, sitting on her bunk and steering clear of him. “Can you do me a favor, actually?” 

“Of course.” 

“Can you go to the library and get me a book about swords?” 

He wanted to apologize. He knew he was pushing it, but seeing her trying to hold herself together was not the goal. He knows she remembered. He knows she could tell him the line if she wanted to. But he had gone too far, and she was either quietly seething or waiting for him to leave. 

“Yeah..” Percy started to make his way out when he looked back at her. “Do you want me to bring it back when I find it?” 

Annabeth shook her head. “No, just bring it in the morning.” 

Per her request, he ducked out of the cabin with underlying guilt. He wanted to help her piece together the quest, but all he did was make it worse.

_ 4 _

Percy did not enjoy cabin inspection. 

Technically, he wasn’t even the one inspecting cabins. He’d been going through Chiron’s reports while Annabeth actually inspected the cabins, but he thought of himself as a useful asset in helping her. 

(He wasn’t. Her exasperated laughter after he tried to give himself a four out of five told him that.)

When they’d made their way to the Athena cabin, Malcolm was already waiting with a smug grin. Annabeth groaned at the sight of the cabin in tip top shape, yet her bunk was a mess. Hand drawn buildings and pages of notes were everywhere, her laptop still open and running. 

“I’ll wait for you outside,” Malcolm commented. “But we didn’t want to move your stuff.” 

“Smart,” Percy said aloud. “She has a special knife just for skewering people who touch her stuff.” 

Annabeth rolled her eyes, working on cleaning her stuff as Malcolm exited. “For head counselor, you’d think I’d have more control over my own things.” 

“Considering half of my clothes were all over the place in my own cabin, I think you’re fine,” he reassured. “Besides, you still got the rest of the cabin clean.” 

“I guess…” 

He stared at her. Like,  _ really  _ stared at her as she rearranged her notes. For all the times he’s been alone with her, they’ve never gotten caught. He likes these moments alone, but he knows it’ll be shattered in a minute. His dream last night was bad, and he needed her advice on it before the real fight began. 

Right before he was about to talk, she sat on the edge of her bunk, creaking loudly. “You know… with everything that’s happening with Beckendorf and Silena.. It really makes you think.” 

Beckendorf carried Silena's picture around with him. Then he thought about a very different picture he’d seen in his dreams. 

“I had a dream about Rachel last night,” he blurted before he could think about how stupid that sounded.

Annabeth looked away from him, shuffling through her papers. Her jaw was clenched, her hands forming fists around her bedsheets. “What do you want me to say?” 

“No, look…” He scrambled for the right words. “She had painted pictures of Luke as a kid. It was from when you knew him. There was another one of an army storming Mount Olympus. They have to mean something, right? And her dad was there talking about headaches and how I wasn’t going with her on their vacation, and-” 

“Percy,” Annabeth cut in. She was a mix between angry and annoyed, which was  _ not  _ a good combo. “Rachel is a mortal. There’s no way any of that could be true.” 

“But what if she’s right?”

“She’s not. We’re fine here, and we’ll just have to be ready when the time comes.” 

“Look at the Ares and Apollo cabin!” Percy snapped. “We can’t even stop fighting each other!” He thought back to the other part of his dream: a vision of what had happened before last summer. “And you don’t tell me everything!”

She threw her inspection scrolls on the floor as she stood, holding out her fists before him. “I knew we shouldn’t have shown you the stupid prophecy. All it did was scare you!” 

“That’s not what I’m talking about.” He watched as she tilted her head in confusion, her tense body relaxing only slightly. “I mean what happened before the labyrinth.” 

Now she was really confused. “What are you talking about?” 

“Luke visited you in San Francisco before you came back to camp,” he told her, her eyes growing wide. “I saw it. He wanted you to run away and you didn’t go with him.” 

She closed her eyes before opening them to settle on his. “Percy-”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” He pleaded. “I could’ve helped you when we finally faced Kronos. You didn’t have to go through that alone.” 

“Because, Percy, I knew it wouldn’t make a difference,” she argued. “He told me Kronos wanted to use him as a host and he wanted me to run away with him, but I thought it was a trick.” 

“Except it wasn’t.” 

“Except it wasn’t,” she repeated. “And I know telling you would’ve been worse.”

He searched her eyes. He could tell that the encounter had shaken her, and bringing it up again wasn’t doing anything to help. “What aren’t you telling me?” 

She threw her hands into the air, exasperated. “I don’t know what you want me to say. I’m still trying to recover from what we saw  _ last summer.  _ I don’t understand it!” 

Percy knows how much she hates not understanding. “Then talk to me!” He pleaded. All he wanted to do was help her, even if it was one last time before he got his stupid soul reaped. “We can figure it out just like we’ve always done. I came to you about my dream about Rachel. Will you let me help you?” 

“You can’t  _ expect  _ this from me.” She sounded tired as she stepped closer, crushing the inspection papers underneath her foot. “Nothing changed.” 

He thought back to her keeping the prophecy a secret. How apparently she’s hiding secret meetings with Luke now. “Why are you keeping things from me?” 

“There was no point,” she answered flatly. “You weren’t with me in San Francisco, and Kronos still took over Luke’s body.” 

“I don’t have to be there for you to let me in.” 

“Last time I let someone in, he let me down,” she whispered. She sounded so far, her voice barely reaching his ears. If he reached forward he thought his hand would pass through her. 

“And you think I’d do that to you?” 

She recoiled as if he'd struck her. Percy bit his tongue, repentance at his word choice. “You know that’s not what I meant. That is  _ unfair,”  _ she said, pointing a finger at him. “Knowing wouldn’t make any difference! All it does is make things worse!” 

“Yeah, and did  _ not  _ telling me do anything either? Did it stop Pan and Daedalus from dying? Did it save Luke?” 

Percy regretted everything while his words hung in the air. His breathing sped up as she moved backwards, her back hitting her bedpost.

“Annabeth, I-” 

“I know you don’t mean that,” Annabeth said. He expected her to start yelling and shouting, but she was calm. He almost wished she’d start punching him. “I know the prophecy has you stressed, and you didn’t mean that.”

He moved forward to touch her arm, hug her, he didn’t know. She ducked down before he reached her, picking up the forgotten cabin inspections from the floor. “If you don’t want to be here, maybe you should go on that vacation with Rachel.” 

Percy was scared to speak out of fear that he’d say something stupid again. She stood, holding the scrolls to her chest as she avoided his eyes. “I think you need to get out.” 

He didn’t protest as the room around them shattered. He gathered his reports that Chiron had given him and considered turning back for a moment before making his way out of her cabin.

_ 5 _

Percy laughed as he slung his hand around Annabeth’s waist, Grover following closely behind. 

“We do all these quests for them, and the gods just decide to cut us off?” Grover joked as he got in line with the couple. “I’m never doing anything for them again!” 

“You can say that again..” Annabeth rolled her eyes, leaning into Percy’s embrace. “It’s so stupid! Like,  _ thanks for fighting our war but we’re not going to talk to you guys anymore!  _ They could at least give us a reason.” 

Percy smiled sideways at his girlfriend. Three amazing months of dating her and he still can’t get over how beautiful she looked when she goes on tangents. “I had the weirdest dream about them last night too.” 

Grover and Annabeth looked at him as if he’d dropped from the sky. “What?” He innocently asked. 

“You had a dream about the gods that have been ignoring us for months?” Annabeth simplified. 

“Well… yeah.” 

Grover swatted him on the shoulder. “That’s important information we should know!” 

“Okay, okay!” Percy rubbed his shoulder. He turned back to the campfire for a moment. They sang a song about the war that night, yet it wasn’t dreary or gloomy. It was a happy memory, one that he held onto as they walked towards the Athena cabin. “It wasn’t anything mind boggling.” 

“Considering my mom hasn’t even told  _ me  _ what’s going on, I’d say any sort of contact is a big one,” Annabeth reminded. 

He smiled as he walked, holding her closer. “It was Hera. She put her hand on my head, and that was it."

Annabeth sneered. “I’m surprised she didn’t zap one of us while she was at it.” 

“Surprised she didn’t zap  _ you,”  _ Grover chuckled, watching them with a funny look in his eyes. He turned toward the woods where Juniper stood, waving them over. “Duty calls. I’ll see you guys later.” 

“Goodnight,” he and Annabeth choursed as their friend ran into the woods. 

When they were alone, Percy let go of Annabeth’s waist to hold onto her hand. He could tell she was thinking about his dream. “I’m sure it means nothing. If all contact with the gods really is forbidden, then she must’ve randomly been in my mind.” 

They both knew that wasn’t true. When gods show up in your dreams, it’s never for no reason. 

Still, they  _ had  _ fought a war when the Olympians were distracted with Typhon. If they really didn’t want anything to do with the demigods besides claiming new campers, then something was seriously wrong on Olympus. 

Annabeth squeezed his hand. “Hey, don’t dwell on it. If we’re lucky, they’re just sorting things out up there and it’ll all be back to normal in no time.” 

She doubted her own words, but the optimism in her eyes and the way she set her shoulders made him forget about everything negative in his life for a good while. She had a weird way of getting him to do that. 

“Yeah,  _ if  _ we’re lucky.” 

She settled her head into his shoulder as they got closer to her cabin. “You know…” She started. “Without my mom threatening to blow you up every night if you don’t give her offerings at dinner…” 

His eyes settled on the grey streak in her hair. It seemed like so long ago that he had gone on a cross country expedition and broken all the rules to get her back. He’d do it again if he had the choice. “I don’t do it anyways.” 

She playfully glared at him. “You are  _ not  _ making this any easier.” 

Percy feigned innocence with his puppy dog eyes. He knew exactly what he was doing when he purposely didn’t scrape his dinner into the fire for Athena. “Who, me?” 

Annabeth let go of his hand to hit him upside the head. “Do you want her to personally come down from Olympus to strike you down?” 

“Hey, at least she’d acknowledge me as something other than _ Poseidon’s son.”  _

“Yeah, she might blow you up before she gets the chance.” 

“Wise Girl, give me more credit.” He laced her fingers back into his, staring ahead as they stopped in front of her door. “I’m impertinent, remember?”

“I don’t think that’s a good thing,” Annabeth laughed, opening the door in front of her. She hesitated before she walked inside, and he followed right beside her. 

She wagged a winger at him before placing her whole hand on his chest and guiding him outside. “Oh, no. You can't come in.” 

“But why?” He protested. “I’ve been in here millions of times.” 

“No one else is here,” she said flatly. 

“That’s never been a problem before,” he said in a low voice, wagging his eyebrows. He tried again to walk in, but she pushed him back out. 

_ “Goodnight  _ Percy,” Annabeth smiled. “I actually have some blueprints that have to be finished by tomorrow, so I can’t be distracted tonight. I’ll see you in the morning.” 

He groaned. He just wanted to come in and spend some time with his amazing girlfriend! “Five minutes?” 

_ “Goodnight.”  _

Percy threw his head back in resignment. He kissed her before bidding her goodnight. “I’ll see you tomorrow.” 

He walked away from the Athena cabin with a smile on his face as the door closed. His last thoughts as he fell asleep was of her face, her name, the feel of her kisses, and everything about her. 

_ +1 _

Annabeth’s heavy feet stalked into the Poseidon cabin. 

She didn’t know what she was expecting. It’d been three days since Percy had gone missing. She thought she was going to find answers by going to the Grand Canyon and finding the boy with one shoe, but he hadn’t been a lot of help. 

Her legs moved before the rest of her body. She was sitting on his bed by the time she realized she was inside. She was leaving in a couple of hours to go search for him. She wanted to memorize every inch of this place before she left. 

It was no use, really. She’d been in the Poseidon cabin more times than she could count. Between her invisibility cap and his cabin to himself, they made it a habit for her to spend the nights with him and sneak back into her bunk in the morning. 

She knew everything about cabin three besides the whereabouts of the person who lived in it. 

Annabeth lied down on his pillow, inhaling the scent of the ocean. Her Camp Half-Blood shirt just had her random vanilla perfume, mingling with the saltiness in the air that comforted her for no reason. 

Everything these days seemed to remind her of him. Grover updating her every minute he can with the empathy link, Tyson and Thalia both on the lookout, even Rachel as she gets cut off from her Oracle powers. Every time she looked at any of them, she was reminded of him. 

Most of the campers tried to give her some space. Clarisse had been the one who helped her the most when they thought he was dead so long ago. Those two weeks had been some of the hardest in her life, and she was going to die if she had to do that again. 

Even Clarisse had given her the space still. She only wanted to talk to Sally about all this. The only other woman in her life who could understand. 

The camp saw a hero and legend missing. For them, it was the person they held closest to their hearts. 

She rolled herself into a ball, hugging her knees close to her chest. She wanted him next to her more than anything. She wanted him to wrap his arms around her and wake her up from this bad dream. He’d tell her that Hera wasn’t getting revenge on her and they’ll enjoy their last year of high school. That stupid boys with one shoe are just the Stolls playing a prank on the new campers. 

Percy wasn’t with her, and Annabeth walked out of the cabin alone. 

**Author's Note:**

> Happy birthday Percy :D
> 
> Sorry I had to make him go missing (again) on his birthday, but it just felt like the perfect conclusion to this little thing :D 
> 
> If you liked this, you should check out my other PJO story about Percabeth in the Star Wars universe. I like to think its good, but who knows 
> 
> Vibe with me on Tumblr: hispanicpercy


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